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Google says it should have a network of Internet-carrying balloons circling the Earth next year. It will mean users in some parts of the world will be able to get a continuous Internet connection without access to cabling, phone lines or a cellphone ... network. The idea is to use similar technology to satellite Internet, but at a considerably lower cost. The balloons, which carry radio transmitters and receivers, run on solar power. The balloons will operate 12 miles above the ground, in the stratosphere, which isn't high enough to lock into orbit like satellites. Instead, the balloons will ... (view more)

Google is offering advertisers a new service based around customer email addresses. It won't mean users will receive more spam emails, but may be considered a misuse of email list advertising. The service is called Customer Match. It involves ... advertisers uploading a list of email addresses to Google (for example, a company's mailing list); in turn, Google will then check that list against its own database of people who have signed up for a Google account. If there's a match between the two email addresses, it will then run advertisements for the company when the relevant person is ... (view more)

Google has apologized after its new Photos app for mobile devices labeled two black people as gorillas. It says it is taking both immediate and long term steps to make sure the mistake never happens again. The software bug follows a series of ... incidents in which searching for racist terms on its mapping service brought up the White House as the top result, though that particular incident was a "social prank," rather than a genuine bug in the software. The Photos app for mobile devices is designed to be a single online storage place for pictures, accessible from any computer or device ... (view more)

Google has apologized for an ongoing quirk by which searching for racist terms in Google Maps brings up the White House. It's the latest in a string of embarrassing problems with the site. The precise results users get on Google Maps depends on what ... they type into the search query, where they are currently located, and which location they are looking at on the map. At the time of writing, searching for an offensive term beginning with 'N' brought up the White House if you were already viewing a location in the Washington DC area. (Source: washingtonpost.com ) Several other reports ... (view more)

Google has revealed that it rejects the majority of complaints it gets from users asking for embarrassing or false content to be removed from its search results. It seems to be getting most decisions "right," but there's still concern about the ... process. The issue involves a ruling by the European Union of Justice, which handles those laws that apply across 28 countries in Europe. It affects any search engine that offers results to European users, even if the search engine or the sites it lists are based elsewhere. The "right to be forgotten" ruling involves cases where ... (view more)

Google has revealed the full details of its cellphone network. It will use a combination of space leased from existing cellphone firms, as well as WiFi hotspots to create the network. The service will be dubbed Project Fi. Initially it will only be ... available to users of Google's Nexus 6 phone, but that will only be used short term as an experiment. If all goes well, it's likely to be expanded to other Android phones. Project Fi Consists of WiFi, Sprint and T-Mobile Google will act as a mobile virtual network operator, meaning it leases space on existing networks. In this case, the leased ... (view more)

The European Union has formally accused Google of breaching competition rules by favoring its own sites in search rankings . It's a big step towards a potential $6.6 billion fine. The case involves specialist websites that let users compare prices ... and availability for retail products or travel deals. The EU claims that Google is effectively rigging the search results because it owns many of the sites in the list, and therefore places them higher in the search results ranking. It says that the favored sites are listed higher than they 'deserve', rather than listing the sites based ... (view more)

Google is said to be planning a tool to let users receive bills via and email, then pay with a single click of a button - all without leaving their inbox. While it will be promoted as a service to benefit users, it could be part of a wider business ... move for Google. Leaked screenshots reveal the service is codenamed Pony Express, though it's unknown if that will be the real name if and when it launches. The current plan is to start the service in the final quarter of 2015. The plan isn't so much to replace existing electronic billing. Instead, Google is targeting companies which print ... (view more)

Google is teaming up with the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers to try to make " green energy " more practical. It's running a million dollar contest called " Little Box Challenge " to try and reduce the size of a key component in ... bringing renewable power to homes and businesses. The competition is based around the fact that electricity comes in two forms: alternating current (AC), and direct current (DC). Alternating power is used in homes and offices, with its flow of electrical charge changing direction continuously. On the other hand, direct current ... (view more)

If you could control the majority of your home and appliances with a smartphone, which devices would you want to control? Google has pondered that very question, and has recently announced plans to open up its 'Nest' technology to independent ... developers, so that household gadgets can easily communicate with one another. Nest, which Google bought for $3.2 billion in this past January, made its name with an "intelligent" thermostat system. The system automatically learns your patterns of activities in the home with preferred heating and cooling levels. It then automatically develops a ... (view more)